Françoise Gilot

Portrait Head of a Woman

1951

Françoise Gilot studied English Literature at Cambridge University, and then, encouraged by her father, studied international law, though she secretly also took art lessons at the same time. 

In 1943, during her first exhibition in Paris, Gilot (then 21) met Pablo Picasso (who was 61) for the first time. In 1946, Gilot started a 10-year relationship with him and had two of his children, Claude and Paloma.

As a result of her relationship with Picasso, Gilot became both a witness and a participant in one of the last great periods of the modern art movement in Europe. Their circle included poets, philosophers, writers, and many of the legends of the art world, such as Braque, Chagall, Cocteau and Matisse. 

In 1953, Gilot left Picasso and the home they shared in Vallauris and moved back to Paris. 

"Lithographs are printed from stones and each stone is an echo of my artistic voice," said Gilot. "Many artists use their art as a personal catharsis. I have never done that. I am more intellectual. Each artistic process — oils, lithographs, monotypes — allows me a different freedom and suits a different mood." 

While Gilot did her first lithograph in 1950 at the Mourlot Atelier, the same studio used by Picasso, Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró and Jean Dubuffet, it was in the 1970s that she really began to experiment with the process. 

"In the beginning, I turned to lithography because I wanted to show off my technical skills. Now I am more interested in color," said Gilot. "I also thought that lithographs would make my works more accessible to young collectors."

Gilot’s work can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, the Musée Picasso and other institutions.

Find original Françoise Gilot prints, watercolor paintings and other art on 1stDibs. 

(Biography provided by Lions Gallery)